Control Your Smart Phone Usage w/ IOS12 and Android P

Control Your Smart Phone Usage w/ IOS12 and Android P

IOS and Android are rolling out new features and I am so excited!

Why?

Because with Apple’s Screen Time and Google’s Digital Wellbeing you will be able to manage time spent on your smartphone! And for entrepreneurs and business owners, especially people who like to set rules and limits like myself, this is AWESOME.

Smart Phone Usage has Gotten Out of Control

Smartphone usage has gotten out of control! And as a society, we need to figure out ways to be on our phones less.

Just think about this, how many times have you been on Instagram or Facebook and lost track of time because you’ve just been scrolling? We all know we do it. But think of the things you could get done, the things you could be doing if you weren’t caught in that trap?

Approach to Fixing The Problem

There have been many approaches to fixing this problem. From going back to “dumb phones”, which the carriers are trying to make sound cool by calling them “feature phones”, to people deleting all of the apps they tend to become addicted to off their phone. And yes, there are already apps to help your smartphone addiction, like Offtime, or Moment. Those are all great, but they’re still apps and limited by what they are allowed to control.

One of the most practical places that this new upgrade will help me is with social media.

How This Affects Social Media

I’ve been in this weird space where I removed all social media from my phone. Which has been great for me, I’ve been able to disconnect which has prevented me from wasting time on the endless scroll. But at the same time, I use social media for business, so there are times when it would actually be convenient to have it on my phone. I’ve ended up carrying around an iPad mini in my pocket on occasions when I knew I’d need to be posting things on social media. I also use Buffer, which helps me plan ahead with my social postings enabling me to not have to be using my phone while out and about. But there are still times where I would like the option to have the apps on my phone, with limitations.

And with these new changes, I will be able to do just that! I will now be able to put self-imposed time limits on certain apps that I use, allowing me to schedule my time more efficiently and hopefully save a lot of my mental brain game for other things.

Overall, This Rocks

Although Apple seems to be slightly more lax than Google with how strict it is being, I think these new OSes change the game and make it easier to find a middle ground where you don’t entirely have to rely on self-discipline, nor do you entirely have to rely on avoidance by removal.

Overall, I’m really looking forward to seeing how this works. I’m going to give it a try by putting my social media apps back on my phone and limiting each app to minutes 5-10 minutes per day. This is one of those things that either works really well or turns into another feature you bypass again and again. But, it’s still worth a try, right?

This is a needed move by Apple and Google. So good job on cracking under the pressure, and hopefully this feature can help people like me, and maybe you, be more productive!

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Catch you later!!

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Chiedo is the CEO at Chiedo Labs, 🎤 speaker on tech and innovation, ⚡ and digital strategy consultant 💥 If you need help with your digital strategy get a free consulting session.